Costa Tropicale News

Carnival Cruise Lines reported today that it will transfer its 1,022-passenger Tropicale to sister company Costa Cruises in February 2001. Prior to its delivery to Costa, the 36,674-ton vessel will complete its current schedule of 10-day Panama Canal cruises from Fort Lauderdale, Fla.,which end Feb. 10, 2001. After that, Costa will immediately reposition the Tropicale to Genoa, Italy, for an extensive refurbishment and refit before placing the vessel into European service. Once the work is complete, the vessel will assume the physical characteristics and on-board environment of a typical Costa-owned ship. "We've said all along that Costa will be our primary platform for expanding our European business and the transfer of the Tropicale is consistent with that strategy…

Westerdam to sister company Costa Cruises in spring 2002, at the conclusion of the vessel's winter Caribbean cruise season. The vessel will then immediately reposition to Europe where it will undergo a short drydock for minor interior renovations and exterior modifications followed by a program of Mediterranean cruises beginning in June 2002. The addition of the Westerdam next spring will be the second Carnival Corp. vessel to be transferred to the Italian cruise operator in a span of 14 months. Last month, the 1,022-passenger Costa Tropicale, formerly Carnival Cruise Lines' Tropicale, joined the Costa fleet and will begin seven-night Mediterranean voyages from Venice in June. Costa's leadership position in the fast-growing European market," said Micky Arison, Carnival Corp.

Carnival Corp. reported net income of $128 million ($0.22 diluted EPS) on revenues of $1 billion for its first quarter ended February 28, 2001, compared to net income of $171.5 million ($0.28 diluted EPS) on revenues of $824.9 million for the same quarter in 2000. For the first quarter of 2001, revenues increased 22.2 percent over the comparable quarter in 2000 primarily because of the consolidation of Costa's results of operations starting in the first quarter of 2001 and the introduction of new ships to the company's Carnival Cruise Lines and Holland America Line fleets.Earnings for the first quarter of 2001 decreased compared to 2000 primarily because last year's results included significantly higher net revenue yields…

Costa Crociere -- a member of the Carnival Corporation & plc group -- has doubled its order with Fincantieri, reaching an agreement to build the Costa Concordia’s new sistership, a 112,000-ton, 475 million euro ship. The new order will also help offset the sale of the Costa Tropicale to P&O Cruises Australia. The will be built in the Fincantieri shipyard in Sestri Ponente (Genoa). It is scheduled to be delivered in the spring of 2007. The new Concordia class ship ordered by Costa Crociere, which has yet to be named, will allow Costa Crociere to maintain its leadership in Europe in terms of capacity and to set a company record as Europe’s most modern fleet.